As the iBGP learned routes are reflected, routing information may loop. The route reflector model has the following mechanisms to avoid routing loops:
- Originator ID is an optional, nontransitive BGP attribute. It is a 4-byte attributed created by a route reflector.

The attribute carries the router ID of the originator of the route in the local autonomous system. Therefore, if a misconfiguration causes routing information to come back to the originator, the information is ignored.

- Cluster-list is an optional, nontransitive BGP attribute. It is a sequence of cluster IDs that the route has passed. When a route reflector reflects a route from its clients to nonclient peers, and vice versa, it appends the local cluster ID to the cluster-list. If the cluster-list is empty, a new cluster-list is created. Using this attribute, a route reflector can identify if routing information is looped back to the same cluster due to misconfiguration. If the local cluster ID is found in the cluster-list, the advertisement is ignored.